Gregory King to replace Le Roux

Ending days of speculation, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced on Friday that it has appointed South African Gregory Allen King as the new physical trainer of the Indian team.

BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya said the 30-year-old fitness trainer from East London, South Africa, will take up his assignment from August 1.

King replaces compatriot Adrian Le Roux, who resigned on June 8 to take up a similar position with the South African national team.

The decision to hire King was arrived at after a two-hour interview with him earlier in the day, during which coach John Wright and skipper Sourav Ganguly were also present.

Dalmiya said though he will recommend a year's term for King, which will extend till the Champions Trophy in August-September in England next year, a final decision will be taken by the Board's Working Committee, which is scheduled to meet in Delhi on July 2-3.

He said the Board received numerous applications for the post, out of which eight -- four from South Africa, three from Australia and another from India -- were shortlisted.

"Each of these candidates had extremely good credentials and the selection was difficult. But the panel felt that it was necessary to maintain continuity with the methods and techniques practiced by Le Roux," he said.

Dalmiya said since King's coaching style is similar to that of his predecessor, it would be easier for the Indian players to adapt to his regimen.

Prior to his appointment, King had a long chat with Le Roux and later in the day explained his methods to the satisfaction of the panel.

King left for Chennai along with Wright this evening to attend a two-day coaches' seminar. He will then join physio Andrew Leipus at a seminar for fitness trainers and physiotherapists, to be conducted by the National Cricket Academy.

The Indian team's fitness camp ahead of the New Zealand series will be held in Bangalore, tentatively from August 14, Dalmiya said.

King, a post-graduate in Human Kinetics and Ergonomics, was a fitness trainer and sports scientist with the Border Cricket Board in South Africa since 1998. In addition, he worked as fielding coach, fast bowler conditioning specialist and rehabilitation specialist.

He played cricket for South African Universities and others teams from 1996 to 1998 and was nominated the Rhodes University Spokesman of the Year in 1998.

Dalmiya said the BCCI took the help of Wright, Leipus and Le Roux before appointing King.

"The preliminary list of applications were referred to them and the eight candidates shortlisted," he said.

To another query, he said irrespective of his term, King's performance will be up for annual review, as was done with Wright and Leipus.